Biopic of a maestro who made his career in Madras
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Biopic of a maestro who made his career in Madras

The Hindu  

In the Madras of the 1980s and part of the 1990s, if life could throw up a background score, it had to be Ilaiyaraaja. A college trip to Kodaikanal propped up on an overnight journey by Pandian Express and then a bus-ride up the ghats from Kodai Road Station would find Ilaiyaraaja as the accompanying friend, philosopher and guide. “Nila adhu vanathu mele” from Nayagan or “Raja rajadhi rajan indha raja” from Agni Nakshatram or “Nila kayum neram saranam” from Sembaruthi were all sung with gusto alongside a cassette player belting out these numbers in the bus. Even in cult films with great songs like, for instance, Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam, you tend to distinctly remember the background score too. In Kannada, Ilaiyaraaja gave an incredible score and songs in Pallavi Anu Pallavi, incidentally Mani Ratnam’s debut film.

Mani Ratnam Ilaiyaraaja  biopic  pallavi  background  ilaiyaraaja  madras  career  songs  ratnams  maestro  nila  notes  raja  score  mani

History of this topic

Dhanush on Ilaiyaraaja biopic: His music has been my companion and acting guru
9 months ago

Dhanush on Ilaiyaraaja biopic: His music has been my companion and acting guru

The Hindu  

With the popular melody ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ playing in the background, music director Ilaiyaraaja and actors Dhanush and Kamal Haasan walked up on stage, for the launch of the ace composer’s biopic. A lot of you might have spent several nights listening to Ilaiyaraaja’s music, but I have spent sleepless nights thinking about his life and how to portray him, and …

BJP’s Southern Outreach in Focus as 4 Luminaries Get Nominated to Rajya Sabha
2 years, 5 months ago

BJP’s Southern Outreach in Focus as 4 Luminaries Get Nominated to Rajya Sabha

The Quint  

Ilaiyaraaja, Ragadevan to many, but revered as Isaignani by almost every music lover in the South India was born in a Dalit family in Tamil Nadu's Theni district. Despite his humble background and the politics of dominant caste driven music industry, Ilaiyaraaja made himself a career based purely on talent. While, the Periyar-Ambedkarite thinkers are miffed with his unwillingness to …

A tribute in Carnatic idiom to Ilaiyaraaja’s classicism in film music
2 years, 6 months ago

A tribute in Carnatic idiom to Ilaiyaraaja’s classicism in film music

The Hindu  

When Carnatic singers Ranjani and Gayatri perform a unique concert RaajabyRaGa, on June 5, to celebrate the legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja’s 80th birthday, they will be fulfilling the stated or unstated desire of many musicians, including flautist T. Viswanathan. While receiving the Sangita Kalanidhi award of The Music Academy, the late Viswanathan called upon traditional musicians to take the first …

WATCH | Usha Uthup's Bengali rendition of this Ilaiyaraaja classic is going viral
3 years, 2 months ago

WATCH | Usha Uthup's Bengali rendition of this Ilaiyaraaja classic is going viral

New Indian Express  

KOLKATA: Devoted listeners of Tamil and Malayalam music are no strangers to the wondrous works of music maestro Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja. In the latest among such regional renditions, ace vocalist and musician Usha Uthup released a Bengali rendition of Ilaiyaraaja’s 1987 classic “Nila Athu Vaanathumele”, a cult favourite from Mani Ratnam’s famous film ‘Nayakan’. The lyrics to the Bengali version “Bhoi …

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